NEW YORK (Thursday, September 10, 2026) – Philadelphia Union forward Bruno Damiani was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday by Michelob ULTRA for Matchday 25 of the 2026 MLS season.
Damiani scored three goals for the Union in a dominant 5-0 victory over Eastern Conference rival FC Cincinnati at Subaru Park (Watch Highlights From His Performance Here). The performance brought Damiani’s season total to six goals, one shy of the seven he scored in 2025. The 24-year-old striker became the fourth Uruguayan to record a hat trick in MLS regular-season play, joining Luis Suárez, Christian Techera and Diego Rossi.
The Union’s win extended their unbeaten streak to nine matches, tying the second-longest run in club history and moving them within two games of the club-record 11-match unbeaten streak set during their Supporters’ Shield-winning 2025 campaign. The 5-0 win over FC Cincinnati also marked the 15th time Philadelphia has scored five or more goals in a regular-season match, the most by any MLS club since the Union entered the league in 2010. The victory moved the Union into eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, their highest position of the 2026 season. .
Damiani’s first of the night came in the 46th+ minute, when Quinn Sullivan played Kai Wagner into space on the overlap before Wagner’s cross found Damiani at the back post to double Philadelphia’s lead (Watch Here). The Uruguayan striker doubled his tally in the 49th minute, as Quinn Sullivan was involved again with a clever pass that split three Cincinnati defenders and allowed Damiani to strike home accurately into the bottom right corner to bring their lead to 3-0 (Watch Here). Damiani completed his hat trick in style in the 61st minute, receiving a pass from Cavan Sullivan following a Cincinnati turnover, before emphatically blasting his third goal into the top corner to secure the match ball (Watch Here).
Damiani is the first Philadelphia Union player since Tai Baribo (Matchday 13 of 2025), and the first Uruguayan since Luis Suárez (Matchday 16 &17 of 2026) to be named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA.
The Philadelphia Union will look to continue their climb up the Eastern Conference table when they travel to Snapdragon Stadium to take on San Diego FC on Sunday, Sept. 13 in a Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire matchup (9 p.m. ET, Apple TV)
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
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